AN: Short and sweet. Also a little early, but meh! Hope you enjoy!

Allen ended up seeing a lot more of Mana and Neah than he thought he would. Apparently, he was a fantastic babysitter and had handled the twins wonderfully. Allen fully protested this, floundering to come up with reasons he shouldn't be around kids. The only one he could really find was Cross. He ended up agreeing pretty quickly though, after hearing some horrible stories. Allen didn't care if the boys could find their way home, abandoning them was freaking appalling. Katerina had beamed at his outburst and labelled him their new babysitter. Allen really wanted to go hit his head against a brick wall.

The teen saw a lot of the two boys over the next couple of months, usually babysitting for at least three to four days a week (sometimes more). Adam was a very busy man and Katerina was still quite ill, so couldn't really look after the boys properly. But that was all fine, Allen was actually happy to babysit after the first couple of times. Neah stopped trying to scare him for the most part and Mana seemed to adore him more and more. However, Allen was still very surprised when he received an invitation to spend Christmas with the family. Cross had run off to God-only-knows-where, claiming he had "errands" to run. Allen called bullshit. Really, really loudly.

Actually, if Allen really thought about it, "invited" wasn't really the right word. Katerina had told him he was spending Christmas with them and had immediately changed the subject, only reminding Allen at opportune intervals where he couldn't complain. So here he was, nervously standing on their doorstep on Christmas Eve (as was "agreed") with some small presents for the boys. Because Katerina had also told him that she and Adam didn't need presents. She had looked really scary when Allen tried to protest so he hurriedly agreed. He reached up to the doorbell, hesitated a few times, before finally pressing the buzzer. The teen heard a soft, Christmassy tune sound from the other side, then a pair of hurried footsteps. The door was flung open moments later and Allen was very nearly knocked over by the force of Mana jumping into his arms.

"Allen!" The child practically squealed. Neah simply grinned in a vague attempt at hiding his excitement.

"Hurry up!" He called, grabbing Allen's hand and dragging him inside as the teen tried to keep his hold of the child in his remaining arm. The door was closed behind them (only after several prompts, the boys were being stubborn as anything), just as Katerina was coming down the stairs. She smiled warmly as she came towards him.

"Allen, I'm so glad you could make it." She said cheerfully, hugging him gently around her son.

"Of course." Allen agreed happily. Not that you gave me much choice… She beamed at him. Mana wriggled out of Allen's grip, grabbing his brother's hand as they both ran to a sizeable pile of gifts.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Katerina questioned lightly. Both boys whipped around to face her, expressions aghast.

"You promised!" They cried simultaneously, though Mana was far more theatrical.

"After dinner." She said sternly, shaking her head fondly at the twin pouts. She then turned to the teen, who was surreptitiously slipping his presents onto the pile.

"The boys have presents for you, they made them themselves. I promised that you could open them early." She explained, a proud smile adorning her face. Allen couldn't help a quiet chuckle as Mana puffed his cheeks out further in petulance.

Dinner was a fairly quiet affair. Adam came home minutes before it was set out, covered in snow and grumbling quietly about the cold. The boys immediately tackled the man, demanding that he hurry up. The man then grumbled about the boy's behaviour, but there was a fond smile on his face. Katerina and Hevlaska, as it turned out, were amazing cooks. Allen and the boys dug in enthusiastically, until Katerina chastised them for eating too fast. She did not fancy a trip to the hospital on Christmas Eve due to them choking on their food. The twins finished first, but kept their impatient protest silent with crossed arms and puffed cheeks.

After everyone had finished, Mana all but dragged Allen over to the present pile and shoved a small, crudely wrapped present into his hands, bouncing on his heels as he waited for the teen to open it. Allen bit back a cheeky smile as he carefully unwrapped the gift, far slower than was strictly necessary. Inside the box was a beaded bracelet with a small engraved charm. The beads looked almost like precious stones and varied in colour, smoky grey, black, rose, lavender, light blue, opal, some even had flashes of electric blue and yellow. The charm was carefully engraved with symbols that Allen had never seen before, but merged together beautifully.

"It's beautiful!" Allen gasped, looking at Mana in surprise. The child beamed at him.

"It's a friendship bracelet!" He exclaimed, a large, somewhat odd-looking grin on his face. Allen blinked. He was fairly sure friendship bracelets came in pairs. Not to mention the rest of the child's family were staring at him like he had just told the most blatant lie in history. His parents were still smiling of course, but they were very… odd smiles… yeah… They were sort of affectionate and sort of exasperated, like Mana was acting like a big idiot for no discernible reason. Allen gave up trying to figure out what was going on, shrugged and crouched down on the floor.

"Will you help me put it on?" He asked the child with a sweet smile. Mana beamed again, nodding enthusiastically and practically tackled him. After the bracelet was secure on Allen's wrist, Mana returned to Neah's side and looked at him expectantly. The other twin failed to move for a moment, earning himself a jab in the ribs. Neah grumbled and shuffled over to the pile, picking up a somewhat large and round package. He had a light blush on his face when he shoved the present in Allen's face.

"This is for you." He grumbled, refusing to look at the teen. Allen smiled a little exasperatedly. Neah's attitude was always so hard to read. Allen took the package with a quiet "thank you" and proceeded to unwrap it with the same care as he had the other one. Neah huffed and rolled his eyes at the slow pace, but otherwise made no complaints. Allen blinked when the final piece of wrapping paper fell away and his present was revealed. It was a plush toy. Really well done for a child… It was round, a nice golden colour with wings, horns, little feet and a large tail with a flourish at the end. It had a large cross design stitched into its face in a lighter gold. Well, Allen assumed it was the face, it had a large zip that looked roughly like a mouth. Allen squeezed gently. It was soft. And really kind of cute. Allen's face obtained a goofy grin.

"I love it." He said, giving it another gentle squeeze. He got curious after a moment and ended up opening the zip-mouth. His eye twitched. Violently. Inside the mouth was a row of pointed fabric teeth. He looked at Neah with a raised brow.

"He'll eat your bad dreams." Neah told him seriously, pausing for a moment and adding –

"You can put stuff in him too." Allen's smile widened.

"I love them!" He repeated again, scooping the two up in a hug and kissing each of them on the forehead. Mana practically squealed in happiness, latching onto the teen eagerly. Neah blushed brightly, voicing loud protests while squirming half-heartedly. He let them go after Neah had finally settled down (he had no desire to be kicked, thank you very much), setting them down in front of him. Now it was his turn. He plucked the two small packages out of the pile and handed one to each of them.

He worried his lip nervously as they both tore into the packaging. God, he hoped they liked them… He waited with baited breath as the two gently pried the lids off the boxes containing their prize. He heard twin gasps and watched the boys pull out the necklaces in curiosity. They were fairly simple in design, a sun and a moon pendant that fit together perfectly, decorated with small gems. He had seen them in the shop window and had found it oddly appropriate for the boys. So similar, yet so different. The boys shared twin grins and held the necklaces out for Allen to put them on.

Allen ends up chasing the two little terrors around the house until bed time, because they have energy to spare and Mana begged the teen to play. He smiles lightly when two little bodies crawl into his bed later that night, and pretends he is still asleep. The teen wakes in the morning to two small bodies pressed either side of him, and one sprawled on his chest. Wait… what?

AN: Heh heh heh, you thought I was going to leave it there, didn't you? Have a couple of Omakes and I hope you enjoyed!

Omakes: Good Morning andOblivious

The small body to his left sits up with a languid stretch, scrubbing tiredly at they're eyes. They turn to Allen and give him a toothy smile when they realise he's awake. The teen thinks it's a girl, but with the short, spiky hair he can't be sure.

"Good morning!" She chirps happily. She sounds like a girl, probably a girl…

"Morning…" Allen mutters half-heartedly, still trying to figure out when and how she had gotten there. Mana stretches out on his chest like a cat, giving him a sleepy smile.

"G'mornin…" He slurs in greeting and the teen couldn't help the fond smile.

"Good morning." He said sweetly, sending an apologetic look at the girl when she pouted for not having received the same treatment. Neah is up next, grumbling unintelligibly. He scrubs at his eyes, tries to tame his hair, fails and finally looks to Allen.

"Morning Allen." He says with a short nod and a pat of the teen's arm.

"Good morning…" Allen murmurs, failing to hide his amusement at the child's relaxed behaviour. There's a long moment of silence before the child speaks again.

"Presents…" He mutters with an air of dawning realisation, and immediately scrambles out of bed.

Mana doesn't budge from his position, no matter how much prodding his brother does, so Allen just scoops him up with the decision of carrying him down. Judging by the smile he can feel against his neck, this was the child's plan all along. Allen doesn't even make it out of the bed before the little girl is holding her arms out with a pout, silently demanding that he carry her as well. The teen doesn't bother protesting, just sighs a little and scoops her up too. He glances vaguely at Neah, but the boy just gives him this pointed look that says all the teen needs to know.

It's not a long trip downstairs, but Allen keeps a wary eye on the girl in his arms anyway, because she keeps staring at him with large, owlish eyes and just the tiniest hint of a smirk that tells him she's up to no good. Neah is also side glancing her suspiciously, so that doesn't help matters… Mana, on the other hand, remains stubbornly asleep. They make it down without any incident, but Allen can see the mischief in her eyes so he doesn't let his guard down in the slightest. Once they're fully in the living room, the teen can see Adam trying to calm down a man Allen has never seen before. Adam takes note of his presence almost immediately and a warm smile envelopes his face.

"I thought they'd sneak off to your room…" He says, fond amusement lacing his tone. Allen smiles a bit bashfully and almost ducks his head. It's at the same time that the panicking man turns around and practically melts in relief.

"Road! I was worried sick! You weren't in your room, the boys weren't in theirs, Tyki hadn't seen you and you weren't downstairs…" He babbled hysterically, flailing slightly in his ranting.

"Sorry Daddy, but I wanted to sleep with Mana and Neah –" Cue choking noises.

"– but they were sleeping in Allen's room, so I stayed there instead." She explained chipperly, complete with an angelically sweet smile that Allen didn't believe for a second. Judging from Neah's expression, he didn't either. Her father on the other hand, biased as he was, melted into a cooing mess and forgave her immediately. He still sent Allen suspicious glances every now and then though…

It was soon explained that they were extended family, and were also staying for Christmas, but their flight had gotten delayed and so they hadn't arrived until much later in the night. Introductions were made soon after and then Road was demanding presents. That had earned Mana's attention, and Allen was not in the least proud of the strangled noise he made when Adam appeared in front of the teen not a moment later, because the child had practically flung himself out of Allen's arms in his excitement (not that Allen needed the help, having adjusted his arm immediately, Adam was just being cautious).

Road does end up jumping him, pouncing when nobody is looking, but Allen is quick to catch her and redirect her into her Uncle's lap. Tyki, having not been as preoccupied as either had thought, burst into laughter at both the action and the look on Allen's face whilst doing so. A second later and Allen was smiling just as innocently as Road, both ignoring the laughing man as Sheryl smiled at them in vague confusion and happiness that his brother was apparently having fun. In the end, Allen's just grateful that he doesn't have to spend his birthday and Christmas alone.

Cross zeroes in on Allen as soon as he gets home. It's weird, because Allen's never seen the man seek him out so actively before. He enters the teen's room and squints for a moment, like he's trying to find something.

"What?" Allen can't help but blurt. It's strange to see that kind of look on the man's face. He ignores Allen though, moving forward to pick up the boy's wrist and stare at his bracelet. After a moment of intense scrutinisation he lets Allen's wrist go and picks up Timcanpy. Allen hears a low growling sound and frowns. He blinks up at Cross and tilts his head slightly.

"Are you hungry?" He questions confusedly. The man stares at him for a moment, a very odd look on his face, then looks away and nods.

"Yeah." He says gruffly, dropping Allen's present back onto the bed and stalking back out of the room. Allen pats Timcanpy softly and hears another soft growl. He looks down for a moment.

"Maybe I'm hungry too…" He mumbles after a moment of thought, completely oblivious to the stuffed doll pushing further into his hand while the teen absentmindedly pets it.